Adjustable horizontal hole drilling apparatus

ABSTRACT

Adjustable horizontal hole drilling apparatus for simultaneous drilling of a plurality of holes in work pieces such as steel beams and the like, wherein reciprocably movable horizontally opposed heads mount drills in horizontally opposed movable relationship for operating engagement with opposite sides of the work piece, the drills being positionally vertically adjustable conjointly and severally, and wherein work piece hold down and element clamping means are provided. The apparatus is especially suited for, although not restricted to, drilling of holes in Ibeam flanges.

United States Patent 1191 Haley ADJUSTABLE HORIZONTAL HOLE DRILLINGAPPARATUS [76] Inventor: Ernest K. Haley, 134 Northwestern Parkway,Louisville, Ky. 40212 1221 Filed: Apr. 12,1973

21 Appl.No.:350,545

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 211,897, Dec. 27,1971, Pat. No.

[52] US. Cl 408/59, 279/20, 408/141 [51] Int. Cl B23b 51/06 [58] Fieldof Search 408/141, 46, 56, 57, 59;

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3,127,661 4/1964 McConnell408/46 X 3,620,636 11/1971 Godard 408/141 1111 3,794,435 [451 Feb.26,1974

2,977,827 4/1961 Wenz 279/20 X 3,687,563 8/1972 McConnell 408/46 X3,113,329 12/1963 Andres et al. 408/141 3,024,030 3/1962 Koch 279/20Primary- ExaminerR0y Lake Assistant Examiner.lames F. Coan [5 7]ABSTRACT Adjustable horizontal hole drilling apparatus for simultaneousdrilling of a plurality of holes in work pieces such as steel beams andthe like, wherein reciprocably movable horizontally opposed heads mountdrills in horizontally opposed movable relationship for operatingengagement with opposite sides of the work piece, the drills beingpositionally vertically adjustable conjointly and severally, and whereinwork piece hold down and element clamping means are provided. Theapparatus is especially suited for, although not restricted to, drillingof holes in I-beam flanges.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENIEDFEBZBISM SHEET 2 (I? 5 PAIENTEBFEBZS 1974 sum 5 0F 5 ADJUSTABLE HORIZONTAL HOLE DRILLING APPARATUS Thisis a division, of application Ser. No. 211,897, filed Dec. 27, 1971, nowU.S. Pat. No. 3,749,507.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION plex and time consuming drill bit adjustingmechanisms. Prior devices have additionally encountered difficulties inappropriately and positively clamping the work pieces being drilled andhave not permitted rapid and facile positionment with respect to thework piece. Especially as applicable for horizontal drilling of holes,such prior art devices have been substantially lacking.

2. Description of the Prior Art Prior art multiple head drilling devicesare known, as shown, for example, in US. Pat. No. 3,501,982, issued Mar.24, 1970, to E. K. Haley, entitled Multiple Head Drilling Apparatuswhich discloses apparatus vertically mounting a set of drill bits,vertically movable into operative engagement with a supported I-beamwith the drive mechanism and chucks therefor being supported within avertically reciprocable carriage. Longitudinal and transverse adjustmentof the drilling bits is provided for. This known apparatus, however,does not permit vertical adjustment of the drills for varying thedisposition of holes to be drilled in, for example, bearn flanges andthe known apparatus in use permits drilling holes from'one side only ofthe work piece.

The present invention provides substantial improvements over and beyondsuch known apparatus.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION Multiple Hole Drilling Apparatus,application Ser. No. 210,381, filed Dec. 21, 1971, inventor Ernest K.

Haley.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, apparatusis provided for the drilling of multiple holes from laterally opposedopposite sides of a work piece, such as the respective flanges ofl-beams. The drills are adjustably mounted horizontally in reciprocablymovable horizontally opposed heads. The drills are positionallyvertically adjustable conjointly and severally to permit adjustment ofvertical adjustable positionment of drilling in the work piece andvertical adjustment between drills in a set on the head on each side ofa work piece for varying the drilling gauge between the drills. Suitablework piece hold down and clamping means are incorporated and the overallstructure is highly efficient in its use and operation.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become morereadily apparent from the following detailed description of anembodiment thereof when taken together with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, parts being broken away, of apparatusaccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of drill vertical adjustment mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the adjustment mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of one end of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG.'6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a portion of thevertical adjusting means shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 7 isa sectional view through a head showing the adjustment meansfor the drills and drill mount, including drill position locking means.

Referring now in more detail to the drawings, an beam generallydesignated 10 or other work piece to be drilled, including web 12 andflanges 14 is appropriately supported by support means generallyindicated at 16 in a broken line on a base or support for the devicedesignated 18. A semi-fixed head 20 and a moving or movable head 22 aremovably supported on base 18 and adapted for movement toward and awayfrom one another. The semi-fixed head is movable to feed in and out fordrilling in relation to two fixed positions, preferably, and forexample, a back gauge position of 24 inches or less and a back gaugeposition between 36 inches and 24 inches. The moving or movable head 22feeds in and out for drilling in relation to the various beam sizes runthrough the apparatus. The normal starting point being plus or minusone-fourth inch from point of drill to face of flange. The semi-fixedhead after proper positionment is secured. The moving head 22 isadjustable through a traveling nut or the like 24 operatively secured tothe head coacting with a threaded bolt 26 operatively driven from amechanical jack drive 28, hydraulic cylinder, etc. A back gauge clamp30, shown in FIG. 1 in full lines in a rear position constitutes asemi-fixed clamp in operative association with the semi-fixed head 20.The semi-fixed clamp and semi-fixed head are movable through a clampingdrive generally designated 32 and associated clamping drive motor 34 toengage the outer end of a work piece, such as an I-beam flange, to bedrilled.

A moving clamp and/or back gauge 36 is adapted for positionment and workpiece engagement by a similar clamping drive 38 and clamping drive motor40. Hold down clamps generally designated 42 which can be hydraulic, airor otherwise include, for example, hold down cylinders 44 with rods 46operatively engaging the uppermost surface of the work piece such as the1- beam flange 14 as shown in FIG. 1. The foregoing structure is forsupport and positionment of different size work pieces and as shown tosupport I-beams of different sizes in position to drill holes throughthe flanges thereof in adjusted variable positions therethrough. Acommon web support plane is provided common to all beams asschematically shown.

Operably mounted and associated with each of the heads 20, 22 are upperand lower drills 46, 48 respectively mounted in chucks 50 and which inturn are mounted or carried by upper and lower plates 52, 54 adjustablymounted with respect to the heads. The mounts and adjusting mechanismsare similar for each of the heads and drills carried thereby and will bedescribed hereinafter in greater detail. The individual drills aredriven from universal joint drive shafts 56 through a drive traingenerally designated 58 which can be a silent chain, gearing or thelike, drill drive motor 60 and chain or the like 62. These drives forthe drills can be similar to those shown in my aforesaid US. Pat. No.3,501,982.

The apparatus of the present invention, as set forth hereinbefore,provides for adjustment of the drilling position of the drillsvertically with respect to a work piece to be drilled. To this end meansare provided for a gang adjustment of the drills on each side of thework piece, or in other words in each head to adjust conjointly the twodrill bits mounted thereon. Additional means are provided for the drillson each head for a gage adjustment to vary the distance between thedrills. This mechanism will be readily understood by reference to FIGS.3, 4 and of the drawings. The upper and lower plate 52, 54 in effectconstitute spindle blocks which carry or mount the upper and lower drillbits 46, 48. As shown in FIG. 6, these spindle blocks have operativelyassociated therewith threaded nuts, the upper threaded nut 64 havingright hand threads and the lower threaded nut 66 having left handthreads. The nuts are prevented from rotation by means of keys 68. Ashaft 70 having a right hand threaded portion 72 and a left handthreaded portion 74 operatively engages in nuts 64, 66. The shaftextends, at its upper portion through bushing 76 operatively associatedwith lifting and lowering plate 78. A connecting chain and sprocketgenerally indicated at 80 are attached to the upper end of shaft 70. Asseen from FIG. 3, four of the shafts 70 are so arranged with respect tothe spindle blocks as to permit adjustment therebetween in a stableparallel movement. This movement to separate the spindle blocks and/orto more closely proximate the same is effected through the coacting leftand right hand threads. The control or operating mechanism includes acommon chain 82 in the connecting chain and sprocket arrangement 80. Anoperating shaft 84 having a crank 86 at its upper end is rotatablymounted in a support plate 88 which is in a fixed position and the lowerend of shaft 84 has a sprocket 90 which engages with chain 82. Uponrotation of shaft 84 through crank 86 the shafts 70 are rotated eitherclockwise or counter clockwise and function to vary the distance betweenspindle blocks 52, 54 and thereby relatively space drill bits 46 and 48.This adjustment for relative spacing between the drill bits accommodatesthe apparatus not only to different dimensioned work pieces but permitsvarying for any given work piece the vertical distance between holesdrilled therein.

The apparatus also includes gang adjustment means for conjointly raisingand lowering the drill bits 46, 48 independently of the gage adjustmenttherebetween. This includes a center line adjustment lifting/loweringplate 90 in which are threadedly engaged lower threaded ends 92 of aplurality of rods 94 having at their upper end sprockets 96 commonlyengaged with chain 98. A crank or the like 100 is attached to one of therods 94 and upon rotation thereof will serve to raise or lower plate 90and together therewith conjointly the spindle blocks 52, 54 and drillbits 46, 48 carried thereby. This latter adjustment, which is for a gangadjustment of the drilling position in conjunction with the gageadjustment permits great flexibility with respect to the holes to bedrilled in work pieces as will be apparent.

Mounting and operating structure for the drill bits and structuraldetails thereof will be understood from FIG. 7 of the drawings. Thedrill bits 46 are of an oil hole drill type having a coolant passage 102operatively associated through a coolant or water jacket or sleeve 104,through port 106 with an appropriate coolant source. Chuck 50 isappropriately mounted on floating spindle 108 which is slidably mountedin a fixed spindle sleeve 1 10 in sleeve bearing 1 12. A compressionspring 114 engages between fixed spindle 110 and floating spindle 108. Aslot 116 is provided in fixed spindle 110 for continuous powertransmission when the floating spindle is extended or retracted and themounting apparatus includes interengaging dovetailed bars 118 and gibblocks 120 which are adjustable by gib adjustment screws 122. Thrustwashers 124 and clip rings 126 are associated with the fixed sleeve andsleeve bearing at opposite ends. The fixed spindle 110 is driven at end128 through drive shaft 56. An anti-rotation rod and finger generallyindicated at 130 are associated with the mounting head and coolantjacket. A locking block shown in full lines at 132 in a retracted ornon-drilling position is mounted on block guides 134 and operable by ahydraulic cylinder, solenoid or the like 136. The extended or drillingposition is indicated at 132A in dotted lines.

From the foregoing it will be readily understood that the apparatus ofthe present invention provides for adjustable horizontal hole drillingfor simultaneous drilling of a plurality of holes in work pieces withrecipro cably movable horizontally opposed heads mounting drills inhorizontally opposed movable relationship for operating engagement withopposite sides of the work piece. The drills are vertically positionallyadjustable both conjointly and severally and work piece hold down andelement clamping means are provided. The apparatus is highly efficientin operation and yet has simplicity of construction.

Manifestly, minor changes in the details of the construction can beeffected in the shown and described embodiment without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined in and limited solelyby the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An adjustable horizontal hole drilling apparatus for simultaneousdrilling of a plurality of holes through vertically disposed workpieceareas, comprising:

A. reciprocably movable horizontally opposed drill bit mounting heads,including in said heads:

i. a fixed sleeve bearing;

ii. a fixed spindle in said bearing rotatably disposed therein;

iii. a floating spindle slidably mounted in said fixed spindleoperatively fixed with respect thereto; and

iv. drive means for rotating said fixed spindle and therethrough saidfloating spindle;

B. chucks attached to said floating spindles;

C. vertically spaced drill bits operatively mounted in horizontaldrilling positions in said chucks on said floating spindles;

D. means for horizontally extending and retracting said drill bits oneach said head into and out of operative drilling engagement with aworkpiece being drilled;

E. said drive means including:

i. a compression spring interposed between said fixed spindle and saidfloating spindle;

ii. said fixed spindle having a slot therein; and

iii. a power transmission pin interengaging said floating spindle andsaid slot for continuous power transmission when said floating spindleis extended or retracted with respect to said fixed spindle;

F. means for positionally vertically adjusting said drill G. a lockingblock mounted for extension and retraction into operative engagementwith said chucks to selectively lock said drill bits in extendeddrilling position and permit retraction therefrom.

2. An adjustable horizontal hole drilling apparatus as claimed in claim1, said drill bits having a coolant passage therethrough, a coolantwater jacket operatively associated with said chuck, a coolant passagein said bits on the respective ones of Said heads com-Cindy 1O jacketadapted for connection to a coolant source, said and severally tovertically adjusted drilling positions with respect to a workpiece to bedrilled and to adjusted spaced drilling positions with respect to oneanother and to a said workpiece; and

coolant passage in said drill bit being operatively associated with saidcoolant jacket for supply of the coolant to said drill bit coolantpassage.

1. An adjustable horizontal hole drilling apparatus for simultaneousdrilling of a plurality of holes through vertically disposed workpieceareas, comprising: A. reciprocably movable horizontally opposed drillbit mounting heads, including in said heads: i. a fixed sleeve bearing;ii. a fixed spindle in said bearing rotatably disposed therein; iii. afloating spindle slidably mounted in said fixed spindle operativelyfixed with respect thereto; and iv. drive means for rotating said fixedspindle and therethrough said floating spindle; B. chucks attached tosaid floating spindles; C. vertically spaced drill bits operativelymounted in horizontal drilling positions in said chucks on said floatingspindles; D. means for horizontally extending and retracting said drillbits on each said head into and out of operative drilling engagementwith a workpiece being drilled; E. said drive means including: i. acompression spring interposed between said fixed spindle and saidfloating spindle; ii. said fixed spindle having a slot therein; and iii.a power transmission pin interengaging said floating spindle and saidslot for continuous power transmission when said floating spindle isextended or retracted with respect to said fixed spindle; F. means forpositionally vertically adjusting said drill bits on the respective onesof said heads conjointly and severally to vertically adjusted drillingpositions with respect to a workpiece to be drilled and to adjustedspaced drilling positions with respect to one another and to a saidworkpiece; and G. a locking block mounted for extension and retractioninto operative engagement with said chucks to selectively lock saiddrill bits in extended drilling position and permit retractiontherefrom.
 2. An adjustable horizontal hole drilling apparatus asclaimed in claim 1, said drill bits having a coolant passagetherethrough, a coolant water jacket operatively associated with saidchuck, a coolant passage in said jacket adapted for connection to acoolant source, said coolant passage in said drill bit being operativelyassociated with said coolant jacket for supply of the coolant to saiddrill bit coolant passage.